11 Of The Worst Plants To Grow In Your Garden

In the effort to ensure your summer of gardening is as carefree as possible, we’ve curated a list of decorative plants that really aren’t worth all the trouble. If you don’t want to worry about plant toxicity, garden bullies, or demanding divas, then you definitely want to stay away from these lovely, yet time-consuming, cultivars:

1. Poet’s Narcissus ()

Named after the Greek hero Narcissus, whose love of his own beauty brought about his demise, all parts of the poet’s narcissus are toxic, especially the bulbs which can be easily mistaken for onions. It contains lycorine, so eating this plant can cause vomiting, stomach cramps, and in extreme cases, convulsions and cardiac arrhythmias. It is also highly fragrant and keeping a large quantity can bring about headaches and nausea.

2. Autumn Crocus ()

A fall flowering plant, autumn crocus offers showy blooms in hues of pink, purple, white, and blue. But beware, these lovely autumn flowers contain the alkaloid colchicines. With symptoms that are similar to arsenic poisoning, acute exposure is usually felt within two to 24 hours and includes fever, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and possibly multiple system organ failure when left untreated.

3. Foxglove ()

While it certainly is a fascinating visual piece for the garden, all parts of this plant contain cardiac glycoside, a digitoxin that affects the heart. If you eat it, it causes low pulse rate, nausea, vomiting, and heart contractions that will eventually lead to cardiac attack.

4. Lily of the Valley ()

This dainty little number is not only extremely toxic, but could easily be classed as an aggressive grower too. 38 different cardiac glycosides have been identified in lily of the valley and consuming even small amounts can cause abdominal pain, reduced heart rate, skin rashes, and blurred vision.

5. English Ivy ()

While its clinging vines make for an excellent ground cover or building façade green, using it anywhere else in the backyard can be problematic at the least.

6. Mint ()

Despite their culinary uses and air freshening aroma, many varieties of mint – including peppermint, spearmint, and catmint – are prolific growers. Using their twofold spreading technique, mint plants are able to conquer far and wide via underground rhizomes and horizontal runners.

7. Bamboo ()

Bamboos are one of the fastest growing woods in the world.They are producing more oxygen than average trees. Bamboo’s main caveat, however, is its vigor for colonizing new lands – it can (and will) spread beyond your property line and into your neighbor’s yard. Bamboo can be very difficult to cull and may take years to get it under control.

8. Creeping Jenny ()

With a common name like ‘creeping jenny’, it would be safe to assume that is plant likes to move! Though it is easily pulled from the ground, creeping jenny is better suited for containers or as a lawn replacement.

9. Roses ()

Though exquisite to behold and superbly fragrant, all types of rose shrubs are finicky and need lots of pampering. For flawless blooms, you’ll have to ensure the soil is deep, loose, and enriched with compost, properly plan and space your plants so roses receive good air flow.

10. Gardenias ()

Extremely temperamental, gardenias require a perfect harmony of watering, sunlight, humidity, feeding, pruning, and mulching in order to glimpse those showy white flowers come summer. If you neglect just one or two of gardenia’s needs the whole plant will suffer.

11. Dahlias ()

Dahlias vary from teeny half inch pom-poms to enormous 10-inch “dinner plates”. Aside from the usual routine of watering and feeding, dahlias are prone to powdery mildew, botrytis blight, viral diseases, and tuber rot. Prolonging blooms means lots of deadheading and as dahlias grow and become massive they will need to be supported by stakes to prevent their succulent stems from snapping in half.

If you want to find more Gardening How-To’s, take a look at the Shoestring Gardener Book!

With 300+ pages, you will be able to replace all of the toxic products in your garden with hundreds of eco-friendly, creatively frugal gardening tutorials, remedies & tips.

You will be confident in knowing exactly what is in the products your family uses and happy with the money you will save every month.

In addition, they offer you Frugal-minded Pricing Just for YOU!

GET THE SHOESTRING GARDENER BOOK NOW!

Included in this life changing book are:

Grow Robust Organic Vitamin Rich Vegetables for a Healthier Diet

Dramatically Increase the Quality & Fertility of Your Garden Soil

Save Lots of Money on Garden Tools & Gadgets

DIY Garden Projects – Creative and Inventive Ideas

Cost Saving Methods and Techniques

Official Website: SHOESTRINGGARDENER.COM Share this information:PinterestFacebook

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT

Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are as essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are as essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.